Triumph through tragedy

Updated 5:32 pm, Friday, June 28, 2013

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“It's not how you start, it's how you finish.” That phrase rings true for Paul Hunter.

Born Oct. 16, 1970, in Racine, Wis., to Louise and James Hunter, Paul is the 19th child out of 21 Hunter children, 18 of whom are still living. He has recently written an autobiography titled “No Love, No Charity: The Success of the 19th Child.”

“This book was a sort of catharsis for me,” said Hunter. “A lot of things that made me angry and bitter needed to be purged.”

When Hunter was 8, his father passed away in a car accident, leaving his mother to raise the children. However, according to Hunter, his mother did a very poor job of child rearing.

“My mother was not an affectionate person,” Hunter said. “There was no love in our house from her, no family activities.”

The children were not allowed to call her “Mother,” only referring to her as “E,” but the people in the homeless shelter she started in 1970, Love and Charity, called her “Mother Hunter.”

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Growing up in what he paints as a toxic environment caused many of Hunter's siblings to turn to drugs and alcohol.

But Paul stood out among his brothers and sisters, becoming the first in his family to earn higher degrees: an associate's degree in supervisory management and then a bachelor's degree in business administration.

More Information

No Love, No Charity: The Success of the 19th Child

By Paul Lamar Hunter

Life to Legacy, $20.95

“No one from my family attended my second college graduation.” Hunter said. “They were all too busy getting high or partying. My mother was too busy doing the 'Lord's work' as was her excuse often. Education was never important to her. She even told me after I got my associate's degree that a child is not supposed to be successful in life until their parents are deceased.”

Hunter recently relocated to San Antonio to be near his three children, ages 14, 16 and 19.

“I have always been very much attached to my children,” he said.

Hunter is currently looking for a job that will “challenge me intellectually,” he said. He would like to be a motivational speaker, inspiring others with his story and message of getting an education.

“19th Child” is the basis of a screenplay written by Dennis James Woods, owner of Life to Legacy, publisher of the book.

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“The screenplay is titled 'The Two Faces of E,'” Woods said. “It weaves the complicated story of Louise Hunter, the nemesis of the book. There's been a lot of positive feedback about it but it has not been picked up by a producer yet.”